View previous stories
	UN voices concern over politically-motivated violence by United Nations News   May 2008   The United Nations has expressed its concern over rising political violence in Zimbabwe, allegedly perpetrated by security forces, youth militias, war veterans and gangs of supporters of both the ruling ZANU-PF party.   The world body’s top official in the Southern African nation, the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Agustino Zacarias, said the UN country team has received an increasing number of reports calling for humanitarian aid for those impacted by this violence in recent weeks.   Unrest and violence have been widespread in Zimbabwe following the 29 March presidential election, in which the incumbent Robert Mugabe was challenged by MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai.   “These incidences of violence are occurring in the communal, farming and urban areas and there are indications that the level of violence is escalating in all these areas and could reach crisis levels,” UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters in New York, adding that the Organization’s country team has received some evidence to substantiate these reports.   The UN team in Zimbabwe expressed its worries over those who have fled their homes – out of fear of reprisals – and lack food, shelter and other basic social services, which could lead to unprecedented humanitarian needs.   Having informed the Government of the situation, the world body called on authorities to address the humanitarian situation.   Last week, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for the next phases of Zimbabwe’s elections to be free and fair.   “He reiterates his strong belief that future stages of the electoral process must be conducted in a peaceful, credible and transparent manner in the presence of international observers,” according to a statement issued by his spokesperson.   "The United Nations country team urges all political leaders across the political divide to unequivocally renounce politically-motivated violence," added Zacarias, a Mozambican diplomat.   No Western monitors were allowed to oversee the first ballot and a team from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) was widely criticised for giving it a largely clean bill of health before any results were released.   Zimbabwean doctors, trade unions and teachers have reported beatings and intimidation by government-backed militias since the first ballot on March 29 and the MDC says 32 of its supporters have been killed.   Results from the first-round presidential poll were delayed by the electoral commission for five week. Mugabe, in power since the country"s independence in 1980, lost by 43.2 percent to 47.9 percent to Tsvangirai in the first presidential poll.
	Landmark court ruling on water rights by IRIN News South Africa   Johannesburg, 7 May 2008   "Water is life, sanitation is dignity - this case is about the fundamental right to have access to sufficient water and the right to human dignity," said Judge Moroa Tsoka in the Johannesburg High Court last week.   In a class-action suit, five residents of Phiri, one of Soweto’s poorest townships, asked the court to order the city to provide at least 50 litres of free water per person per day, double what they currently receive but the basic minimum prescribed by the World Health Organisation.   They also asked that they be given the choice of an ordinary credit water meter instead of the prepaid system imposed by the city, on which the court ruled in their favour as well.   "The case is the first in which a South African court has come out in favour of the poor. It sets a global precedent; it shows the defects of prepaid water meters, which require people to pay in advance, which discriminates against the poor," Ashfaq Khalfan, Coordinator of the Right to Water Programme of the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (CHORE), told IRIN.   CHORE, a Geneva based non-governmental organisation (NGO) that campaigns for the protection of housing rights, had joined the High Court proceedings as a ’friend of the court’, which allows an independent party to introduce useful information relating to the case, with the permission of the court.   The UN suggests that in most cases 50 litres of water a day is insufficient. During his submissions in December 2007, Wim Trengove, advocate for the Phiri residents, said international research showed that across the globe in areas comparable to South Africa between 150 and 400 litres a day per person was the norm.   "This decision will be an immense boost to poor communities in South Africa and elsewhere. It is a warning shot against attempts to forcibly impose pre-paid water systems on the poor elsewhere in Africa and globally," Khalfan said.   The judgment incorporates the best of South African jurisprudence, international law and comparative jurisprudence, a CHORE statement said. "It creates a useful precedent for litigation globally."   Johannesburg Water, the utility owned by the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, started installing prepaid water meters in Phiri in 2003, and the argument over whether this was constitutional or not has been running since then.   The prepaid meters, deemed "unconstitutional and unlawful" by the court, automatically disconnect the water supply once a household has used up the 6,000 free litres given by the city. The connection remains severed unless the user can afford to "top-up".   "To expect the applicants to restrict their water usage, to compromise their health by limiting the number of toilet flushes in order to save water, is to deny them the rights to health and to lead a dignified lifestyle," Judge Tsoka ruled.   Tsoka argued that it contravened the "right to equality" if some Johannesburg residents - those with regular meters - got access to credit, while those in other areas - such as the residents of Soweto with prepaid systems - were denied the same privilege. "The underlying basis for the introduction of prepayment meters seems to me to be credit control. If this is true, I am unable to understand why this credit control measure is only suitable in the historically poor black areas and not the historically rich white areas. Bad payers cannot be described in terms of colour or geographical area," he said.   In his submissions to the High Court, Trengove argued that the township’s residents were not only some of the poorest and least educated in the city, but also bore the brunt of HIV and AIDS.   Restrictions imposed on access to water have far-reaching implications in HIV and AIDS prevention and care.   Water is essential for the preparation of food and minimising the risk of infection, to which HIV and AIDS patients are more vulnerable, and for the enhanced hygienic standards required by caregivers. Additional drinking water is also necessary for taking medicines. Visit the related web page
	View more stories